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[[underlined]] Chapter X. [[/underlined]]  208.

Chihli. Its precise whereabouts were unknown; but it was believed to have been situated near Shan Hai Kuan [[3 Chinese characters]], the well named "Mountain and Sea Barrier", where the Great Wall reaches the coast. 
    Now Lighthouse Point must, under the conditions of ancient warfare, have formed a most defensible position, as well as one of great strategic importance. It forms a bold salient projecting out into the Gulf a few miles from Shan Hai Kuan, and its cliffs command a wide view over sea and land in all directions. It is moreover provided with supplies of potable water, and has also two fairly sheltered harbors quite adequate for vessels of light draught. It seemed to me, therefore, that what we had found might well be the site of the missing Han naval base. Its farther examination, however, we felt obliged to postpone until some future date. 

[[underlined]] Return to Peking. [[/underlined]]
   At the beginning of September we returned to Peking. During our brief absence at Peitaiho the state of public affairs had grown steadily worse. I was already aware that renewal of civil war between Marshal Wu P'ei-fu, who controlled northern China proper, and Marshal Chang Tso-lin [[3 Chinese characters]], "warlord" of the Manchurian provinces, was daily becoming more and more imminent. I now learned that political intrigue had also been going on apace. Among its results had been the crowding into inferior positions, or even the turning out of office altogether, of many of the men who had expressed themselves most favorably toward our enterprise. Further, the popular feeling of hostility toward foreigners merely as such had grown perceptibly stronger and more difficult to overcome. 
    Two days after my return to the capital I had an interview with Mr. Edward Bell, then [[underlined]] chargé-d'affaires [[/underlined]] at the American Legation. [[superscript]] (189) [[/superscript]] In my
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 [[superscript]] (189) [[/superscript]]  Mr. Bell died, quite suddenly and greatly regretted, a few weeks later, on October 28, 1924. 
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Transcription Notes:
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